First, under the Sign category of DISTRESS AMONG NATIONS — According to the Associated Press, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the world’s leaders that the threat of a nuclear attack is at its highest level since the end of the Cold War and that “fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings.” In his first state-of-the-world report since taking the reins of the United Nations on January 1, Guterres put “nuclear peril” as the leading threat, warning that “we must not sleepwalk our way into war.” The U.N. chief told the General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting that millions are living in fear “under a shadow of dread cast by the provocative nuclear and missile tests” of North Korea.

Second, today, under the Sign category of EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES — According to CNN, Rescue workers are continuing to search for dozens of people feared buried in Mexico City among hundreds of buildings destroyed by the country’s most lethal earthquake in a generation. The magnitude 7.1 quake on Tuesday killed at least 217 people, nearly half of them in the capital, 32 years to the day after a devastating 1985 quake. The disaster came as Mexico was still reeling from a powerful tremor that killed nearly 100 people in the south of the country less than two weeks ago.

Third, today, under the Sign category of THE TURMOIL IN ISRAEL & THE MIDDLE EAST — According to The Washington Post, Israel has flexed its military muscles in recent months as the regional balance of power has pitched further in favor of its most bitter adversaries — Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. Analysts and former senior Israeli military officers say Israel is showing that it will act with force to protect its interests, while using just enough of it to limit its enemies without sparking a war. But it’s a precarious line to tread, and even a small misstep could lead to conflict. Israel is scrambling to adjust as Syrian President Bashar Assad has taken the upper hand in his country’s six-year war, propped up by an emboldened Iran and an array of Shiite militias, including Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to back him. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly criticized a U.S.-Russia cease-fire deal in southern Syria for not including provisions to stop Iranian expansion. Meanwhile, Israel is making its presence felt. Last week Israeli jets buzzed so low over southern Lebanon that they shattered windows and caused panic. That followed the bombing of a military site in Syria earlier in the month that had been linked to missile production for Hezbollah. And, on Tuesday, the army used a Patriot missile to shoot down a drone that neared its airspace.

Fourth, today, under the Sign category of INCREASED NATURAL DISASTERS — According to The Washington Post, after mauling Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria delivered a punishing blow to the Dominican Republic with winds near 115 mph and driving rains as the storm carved an arc of misery through the Caribbean. Maria — now a Category 3 hurricane — was expected to gather some fresh strength over open water before taking aim at the Turks and Caicos Islands, which were battered earlier this month by Hurricane Irma on its deadly path toward Florida. Seven deaths have been blamed on Maria, an entire island is without power, and the mass of devastation it leaves behind will further compound already strained relief efforts in the region.

Fifth, today, under the Sign category of WARS & RUMORS OF WARS — According to the Associated Press, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lobbed a string of insults at President Donald Trump on Friday in a speech during which he also hinted at a frightening new weapon test. It was the first time for a North Korean leader to issue such a direct statement against a U.S. president, dramatically escalating the war of words between the former wartime foes and raising the international nuclear standoff to a new level. Kim said his country will consider the “highest level of hard-line countermeasures in history,” a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon. His foreign minister, when asked during a visit to the U.N. General Assembly what the countermeasure would be, said his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.

You can read these stories in more detail and get more prophecy-related news at SecondComingHerald.com.

The prophetic passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is Jeremiah 31:15-22 which reads in part: “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.”

Allow me to share with you some commentary on this passage from the Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary, edited by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson.

This passage concludes with a call to repentance. Verse 21 begins with a plea to return to the ancient paths: “Set up for yourself roadmarks, place for yourself guideposts; direct your mind to the highway, the way by which you went.” God calls upon Israel to “return, O virgin of Israel”—to be repentant, to be converted. God continues, “How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter?” In Hosea 1-3, the prophet Hosea speaks of Israel as a divorced wife returning to her husband. Jeremiah 2:20 speaks of Israel as playing the prostitute, and Jeremiah 3:1-10 points out that Israel was divorced by God because of her prostitution. In Hosea 2:19-20, Israel has yet to return to her husband, which will prove to be “a new thing in the earth—a woman will encompass a man.” The promise is that the weak female will embrace the strong male. Israel, the wife of Jehovah, will embrace the Lord, her strong Husband, and they will have a reunion someday.

If the Lord tarries His Coming and we live, we will continue looking at the prophetic passages of the Bible in our next broadcast / podcast.

Our Second Coming quote for today is from Billy Graham. He said, “Bible teaching about the Second Coming of Christ used to be thought of as ‘doomsday’ preaching. But not anymore. It is the only ray of hope that shines as an ever brightening beam in a darkening world.”

Let’s Pray

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If you are not ready for the return of Jesus Christ, may I encourage you to get ready today by receiving Him as your Savior. Here is how.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here is the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.

He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.

He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.